Machine for trimming window-shades.



: dow-shades to reduce them in width from the; standard sizes to the pr'o'p'ersizes to fit'windows where they are to be used.

Ordinarily window-shades are made eitherlhirty-six, thirty-eight, forty two,-forty-five, forty-eight, fifty-four, or'si'xty-three inches wide; but windows do not always correspond in width with eitherof these dimensions.

UNITED S A Patented May 19, 1903- ZP'AT N OFFICE.

GEORGE W. STEFFEE AND MAURICE J BEENEY, OF NEWARK, OHIO.

sPEcI IfoA'nonrormin part of Letters Patent '1 \To.728,424, dated May 19, 1903.

idpplicationfiled February 1'7, 199s, $erlal1l0. 143,311. (No model.) 1 Y T0 at whomififmwy concern." v

and MAURIoE J. BEENEY, citizens of the United States, residing-at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have The object of our invention is to provide improved means for cutting or trimming win- In fact, they very often vary from these dimensions to such an extent'thatsh'ades of standard sizes cannot be made to fit them without being trimmed. .For instance, some windows are only twenty-seven inches wide, and in order to fit a shade to such window it is necessary to cut off nine inches of a'thirtysix-inch shade along one side thereof. Window-shades are generallyrolled on springrollers and inclosed in paper wrappers, which are stamped with a memorandum ofthe while still Wound on its roller and, if prefor trimming window-shades.

, winding' -the-"shade. The support at the op- Be it known that we, GEORGE W. STEFFEE' posite end of theroller is adjustable in such manner as to holdtherolled shade in any desired position relatively t'o'theknife to per- 'n1it the latter to sever from the shade the necessary widthof'material v The details of construction will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l'is a perspective View of our improved machine I Fig. 2 is a detail view, partly in elevation'and partly in section, showing particularly the manner of gconnecting one of the supports or, as we call I it, the tail-stock to the bed-plate of the machine and to theshade-roller. Fig. 8 shows an end elevation of the machine, one position of the trim ming-knite being indicated by dotted lines.

A bedplateA, which may be made of wood of any desired length, preferably of a length suficien't to accommodate the largest-sized shades, is by preference mounted on legs or standards B,-which may be attached to a table, if desired, or may be made to simply rest thereon. Thebed-plate is formedwith a longitudinal slot or, which receives the lower portion of atail-stock C, which latter is adapted to slide back and forth over the slot and behold in any desired position on the bedplate. Preferably the tail-stock is formed with a base 0, that bridges the slot, and it has on its under side'a' flange 0 that extends int'o the slot, but fits it loosely, its di-.. men'si'ons being such "as to prevent the ,tail" ing at its lower end a head d, bridging the slot, and a shank d, rectangular in cross-section and extending through the slot and into the lower portion of the tail-stock. The bolt extends upwardly through the tail-stock, and its upper end is rounded and screw-threaded to receive a nut E, having a handle 6. The construction and arrangement are such that when the parts are arranged as shown in Fig. 2 the nut will bear against the top of the tailstock and draw the head of the bolt against the bed-plate, thus securely holding the tailstock in the position to which it is set. By turning the nut the connection may be loosened, and the tail-stock maybe adjusted longitudinally on the bed plate and again clamped thereto. By removing the bolt the tail-stock may be lifted away from the bedplate and reversed, so as to present either one of the recesses c to the roller. After being thus reversed the bolt and nut may be again applied in the manner before stated. At the opposite end of the bed-plate is secured a frame F, to which are pivoted two rollers G G, arranged on opposite sides of the slot CL and of proper dimensions to hold the rolled shade in line with the axis of the tail-stock, and above these rollers we arrange a knife-carrying lever II, provided with a knife H, adapted to bear on the shade, and this knife-carrying lever is provided with a handle, by means of which it may be raised and lowered when desired. The lever H is also provided wit-h an arm h, pivoted to a bracket I, attached to the bed-plate, and just inside the pivot a link 72 is attached to the arm, the lower end of the link being attached to a spring h. The link is recessed or curved at 77. in such manner that as the knife is moved up and outward in the manner shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 the connection at a: between the link and the arm in will pass across the axis about which the arm turns; but the outward movement of the lever is limited by the engagement of the link with a stud 2', projecting from the arm. By this arrangement the spring tends to draw the knife downward against the rolled shade when the lever is moved inward or when the pivotal point a: is inside the pivot of the lever; but when the pivotal point x passes outward across the axis about which the knifelever moves the spring tends to move the lever outward and hold it in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. By this arrangement the knife can be thrown back out of the way and held within convenient reach when a rolled shade is being adjusted or when it is being taken out of the machine; but when a shade is being cut the knife is held by the spring h in proper position relatively to the shade and is prevented from being thrown out of position accidentally. The spring h is made of sufficient strength to cause the knife to cut the shade without additional pressure being applied to the handle, both hands of the operator being thus free to turn the shade, although this may ordinarily be done with one hand. Additional pressure may, if desired, be applied to the knife by means of the handle. I In order to provide a rest for the lever when no roller is mounted in the machine, we employ a bracket J, attached to the front of the bed-plate and having a bifurcated upper end j to receive the lever. The proper adjustment of the tail stock may be obtained by means of the scale K, which is graduated to indicate feet and inches from the knife side of the machine toward the tail-stock.

In using our invention we preferably do not tear off the paper wrapper, but leave it on the shade in order that the latter need not be soiled in handling. When the knife is thrown back to the position shown in Fig. 3 by dotted lines, the end of the roller containing the spring is adjusted in the tail-stock, the stud projecting from the spring being protected in the recess 0 The opposite end of the rolled shade rests between the rollers G G. The tail-stockis adjusted and set at the proper distance from the knife, (indicated on the scale K,) and then the knife-carrying lever H is turned inward and the knife is made to bear on the shade in the manner indicated in Fig. 1. Pressure is applied to the knife-carrying lever by the spring 71, while either one or both hands of the operator may turn the rolled shade slowly around its axis, and as the paper is still on the shade there is no danger of the shade being soiled by handling. This operation is continued until the shade is cut through to the roller. The surplus material is then withdrawn, and the surplus projecting end of the roller is removed by means of a saw. Ordinarily when a roller istrimmed in this Way the casting containing the pivot is attached to the roller by means of tacks or by means of a pin projecting centrally through its inner side, and a careless workman often rests the opposite end of the roller containing tbe'spring on the floor or against some stationary object. In doing this it very often happens that the spring is injured, inasmuch as the stud b is forced inward by such an operation; but in using our machine after the end of the roller is sawed off the pivotcasting may be attached to the roller without removing it from the machine. The tailstock affords a suitable abutment to withstand the blows of the hammer, and the spring-stud b is protected within the recess 0 The knife cuts the shade evenly, with no ragged edges, and when the tail-stock is once adjusted to cut a shade of suitable width for one window no further adjustment is of course required for shades of other windows of the same width, and therefore we save a great deal of time by the use of our machine by reason of the fact that we avoid the necessity of measuring off the proper width on each shade.

Our machine is simple, it may be mann factured at small cost, and very little skill is required to operate it, and yet it does the work required more evenly and expeditiously than has heretofore been possible. The ma chine is also light and may be transported from place to place. It is not necessary that the standards should be screwed down to the table, and when not in use the machine may be stood up in a corner where it will be out of the Way.

We claim as our invention- 1. Amachine for trimming window-shades, comprising a bed-plate, a tail-stock adapted to. receive one end of a shade-roller, rollers for supporting the opposite end of the shaderoller, and a knifecarrying lever arranged over the supporting-rollers. I

2. 'A machine for trimming window-shades, comprising a bed-plate, a tail-stockadjustable longitudinally thereon and adapted to receive one end of a shade-roller, rollers for supporting the opposite endof the shaderoller, and a knife-carrying lever pivoted to the bed-plate and arranged over the supporting-rollers.

- 3. A machine fol-trimmingWindow-shades, comprising a bed-plate, a' reversible tailstock having recesses on opposite sides, each adapted to receive one end of a shade-roller, clamping devices for attaching the tail-stock to the bed-plate, rollers on the bed-plate for supporting the opposite end of the shaderoller, and a knife arranged over the rollers.

4.. A machine for trimming window-shades, comprising a bed-plate, a tailstockhaving a recess therein adapted to receive one end of a shade-roller, and a smaller recess commu nicating therewith adapted to receive the stud adjacent to the spring of the roller, means for adjustably connecting the tailstock with the bed-plate, means for supporting the opposite end of the shade-roller, and

a knife for trimming the shade arranged near the supporting-rollers.

5. A machine for trim m ng window-shades,

comprising a bed-plate, supports for opposite ends of a rolled shade, aknife-carrying lever pivotally connected with the bed-plate, a

spring attached to the bed-plate, a link attached to the spring and connected with the knife-carrying lever between its pivot and the knife,.a stop engaging the link'and'limiting the outward movement of the knife-carrying lever, and a bracket for supporting the knife-carrying lever and for limiting its inward movement. A

6. A machine for trimming window-shades,"

ed to receive one end of the shade-roller,

means for supporting the opposite end of the roller, a trimming-knifepivoted to move about a stationary axis, and a spring for drawing the knife into engagement with the shade. l i v 8. A machine for trimming window-shades,

comprising abed-plate, a tail-stock adapted to receive one end of a shade-roller, rollers for supportingtho opposite end thereof,apivoted trimming-knife, a spring and a link con- 7 nected with the spring and connected with the knife inside its pivot, whereby the knife is held either in engagement with the shade or is held away from the shade, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

GEORGE STEFFEE. MAURICE J .BEENEY.

Witnesses:

HOOPER FRANKLIN, ISAAC N. WILSON. 

